REG - BloomsburyPublishing - Trading Update

Bloomsbury PublishingAnnouncement

30/03/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 4716G  Bloomsbury Publishing PLC  30 March 2022

BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING PLC

("Bloomsbury" or "the Company")

 

Trading Update

 

Trading materially ahead of upgraded expectations

 

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (LSE: BMY), the leading independent publisher, today
announces a further year-end trading update for the 12 months ending 28
February 2022.

 

Revenue is expected to be comfortably ahead and profit materially ahead of
upgraded market expectations for the year ended 28 February 2022, surpassing
the guidance provided in our statement on 26 January 2022*.

 

Nigel Newton, Chief Executive, said:

"Bloomsbury's excellent performance demonstrates the strength and resilience
of our business and the successful execution of our digital and acquisition
strategy. In February, the final month of our financial year, Bloomsbury
delivered exceptional sales, in part driven by Sarah J. Maas' new title,
Crescent City: House of Sky and Breath, which was a global number one
bestseller.

 

Alongside this strong performance, we successfully mitigated ongoing print
supply chain challenges, including printing titles earlier than usual and
being flexible about where we print. We remain confident in the strength and
resilience of our business and our long-term strategy."

 

Consumer

 

This second upgrade follows exceptional February trading in the Consumer
division. Sarah J. Maas' new novel, Crescent City: A House of Sky and Breath
was published on 15 February 2022 and instantly became a number one global
bestseller. Other frontlist bestsellers included What I Wish People Knew About
Dementia by Wendy Mitchell (published 20 January 2022), Violeta by Isabel
Allende (published 25 January 2022) and The Leviathan by Rosie Andrews
(published 3 February 2022). Strong backlist sales continued, in particular of
Harry Potter, Sarah J. Maas and the TikTok sensation, Madeline Miller's Song
of Achilles.

 

Non-Consumer - Successful execution of our digital strategy

 

Six years ago, we announced the creation of the Bloomsbury Digital Resources
division ("BDR"), with the long-term strategic goal of building high margin,
high quality revenues by developing digital academic content and platforms. We
are delighted to announce that we have beaten the target announced in May 2016
of generating £15 million of sales and £5 million of profit by the year
ending 28 February 2022.

 

BDR is set for a new era of growth through the acquisition of ABC-CLIO, who
have major digital resources in the US high school library market, and
ambitious continued organic growth. In February, we launched a new TCG Books
Play Collection on the market leading digital platform, Drama Online. TCG
Books is the largest independent trade publisher of drama in North America,
with 18 winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama on its list.

 

We will provide further details with our preliminary results in May 2022.

 

Board appointment

 

Bloomsbury is pleased to announce that John Bason will join the Board as a
Non-Executive Director on 1 April 2022. John is currently the Finance Director
of Associated British Foods Plc, having been appointed in May 1999. He is also
Chairman of the charity FareShare. He was a Non-Executive Director, Senior
Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee for Compass Group Plc
between 2011 and February 2022. John will also become a member of the
Bloomsbury Remuneration, Audit and Nomination Committees.

 

Steven Hall will step down from the Board at the conclusion of Bloomsbury's
2022 AGM taking place on 20 July 2022**. Steven joined the Board in 2017 and
is the Chair of the Remuneration Committee. It is intended that Steven will be
succeeded by John Bason as Chair of the Remuneration Committee.

 

Sir Richard Lambert, Chairman of Bloomsbury, said:

"Steve Hall joined the Bloomsbury Board five years ago, and his deep knowledge
of the world of academic and professional publishing has been an invaluable
support to the Company as it has built its presence in this sector.  He has
been a rigorous chair of the Remuneration Committee, and a lively contributor
to Board discussion. We owe him a big vote of thanks."

There is no further information required to be disclosed pursuant to LR 9.6.13
R.

 

* The Board considers current consensus market expectations for the year
ending 28 February 2022 to be revenue of £212.5 million and profit before
taxation and highlighted items of £22.3 million.

 

** This statement is made in accordance with paragraph 9.6.11(2) of the
Listing Rules.

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
 Nigel Newton, Chief Executive                 nigel.newton@bloomsbury.com
 Penny Scott-Bayfield, Group Finance Director  penny.scott-bayfield@bloomsbury.com
 Hudson Sandler                                +44 (0) 20 7796 4133
 Dan de Belder / Hattie Dreyfus                bloomsbury@hudsonsandler.com

 

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Group to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations
(EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement via a
Regulatory Information Service ("RIS"), this inside information is now
considered to be in the public domain.

 

The information in this announcement has not been audited or otherwise
independently verified and no representation or warranty, express or implied,
is made as to, and no reliance should be placed on, the fairness, accuracy,
completeness or correctness of the information or opinions contained herein.
None of the Company or any of its affiliates, advisors or representatives
shall have any liability whatsoever (in negligence or otherwise) for any loss
whatsoever arising from any use of this announcement, or its contents, or
otherwise arising in connection with this announcement.

 

This announcement does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation
to sell, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase any shares in the
Company, nor shall it or any part of it or the fact of its distribution form
the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract or commitment
or investment decisions relating thereto, nor does it constitute a
recommendation regarding the shares of the Company.

 

Certain statements, statistics and projections in this announcement are or may
be forward looking. By their nature, forward‑looking statements involve a
number of risks, uncertainties or assumptions that may or may not occur and
actual results or events may differ materially from those expressed or implied
by the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that
any particular expectation will be met and reliance should not be placed on
any forward-looking statement. Accordingly, forward-looking statements
contained in this announcement regarding past trends or activities should not
be taken as representation that such trends or activities will continue in the
future. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements,
which are based on the knowledge and information available only at the date of
this announcement's preparation.

 

The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or keep current the
information contained in this announcement, including any forward‑looking
statements, or to correct any inaccuracies which may become apparent and any
opinions expressed in it are subject to change without notice.

 

References in this announcement to other reports or materials, such as a
website address, have been provided to direct the reader to other sources of
information on Bloomsbury Publishing Plc which may be of interest. Neither the
content of Bloomsbury's website nor any website accessible by hyperlinks from
Bloomsbury's website nor any additional materials contained or accessible
thereon, are incorporated in, or form part of, this announcement.

 

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